GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News June 15, 2016
Another person came forward Wednesday morning to publicly accuse Guam’s Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of sexual abuse.
The accuser, Roland Sondia, said Apuron sexually abused him when he was a 15-year-old altar boy during a sleepover at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church rectory in Agat where Apuron was parish priest in the summer of 1977.
“When I was an altar boy almost 39 years ago, at the age of 15, I was molested by Anthony Sablan Apuron. This was a man who I trusted and had a lot of respect for,” Sondia told the media during a press conference outside the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña.
He is the fourth person to accuse Apuron of sexual abuse of altar boys in recent weeks starting in May.
The archbishop that the Vatican sent to temporarily administer the Archdiocese of Agana, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, issued a statement to the media hours after Sondia came out.
“The Archdiocese of Agana, taking into serious consideration the allegations presented to the public this morning, will take necessary steps to present the matter to the Holy See, which has final authority in cases related to Bishops,” Archbishop Hon said. “In the mean time, I am earnestly praying for all those concerned in this matter, without prejudice to both the alleged victim and the accused and ask for the prayers and support of the entire Church community.”
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